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It's Not A Tumor Terror Plot!

Friday, Jan. 25, 2008 4:00 AM

While Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid is talking tough, it's the wrong kind of tough. He's scheduled a cloture vote on the 'Protect America Act' for Monday afternoon. But that vote is contingent on Republicans allowing amendments to the bill (which they've been fighting against, successfully), rather than pulling the bill altogether and busting the chops of Democrats who are voting in its favor.

This is our 'Democratic Majority,' and it's a joke. Telecom amnesty does not protect America - it gives a free pass to an administration that broke the law to institute warrantless wiretaps. And the bill itself does not adequately protect the Constitutional rights of American citizens.

Speaking of sick jokes, there's FOX News' John Gibson, and his tasteless comments on the death of actor Heath Ledger.

Gibson took a clip from the film Brokeback Mountain, in which one character tells the other, "I wish I knew how to quit you," and said, "Well, he found out how to quit you."

Gibson also played and mimicked one of Ledger's lines from the film, "We're dead."

Someone needs to tell Gibson that Brokeback Mountain is a movie. It's make-believe. Jake Gyllenhall and Heath Ledger are actors.

Authorities arrested a teenager who apparently planned on hijacking a plane, and had rope, duct tape, and handcuffs on him when he was taken into custody.

Here's what doesn't make sense, (other than CBS News splashing a 'Terror Plot' graphic atop the story this morning*):

- Rope, duct tape, and handcuffs are not on the TSA's list of prohibited items.

- The teenager supposedly planned on hijacking a flight from Los Angeles to Nashville, but was arrested boarding a plane in Nashville.

*Gee, someone noticed - a repeat of the story in the next hour had 'Hijack Plot.'

In last night's debate among Republican candidates, Mitt Romney blamed Iraq on the Democrats. Specifically, the success of the insurgents is because the Democrats want to pull out so quickly. Instead, Romney attests, our success is because of the noble sacrifice of blood by the men and women in our nation's military.

Ahem. Nearly 4,000 dead soldiers inside of four years is not a success by any measure.

It's about the mission, and we don't have one. "Six more months," which we continue to hear as an excuse from pundits, generals, and our president, is not a valid strategy - it's hoping monkeys turn out Shakespeare.

"The Iraqis have to do x," is also a bunch of hooey, as it cedes the initiative and makes our success dependent on an external outside of our control. It's not just 'political reconciliation,' it's a string of connected what-ifs. Political reconciliation, plus police and military forces coming on line to handle what we're having trouble handling, plus de-Baathification laws, plus oil-sharing agreements, all with no timelines, benchmarks, or accountability.

These are things that should be evident to a true leader, and that applies to candidates from both parties.